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Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 10:52 pm
JK found himself staring down at the empty plate in front of him as Mr. Kaneko glanced at him, not missing the softening of the look on the other's face. He was still feeling bad about the first outburst at the door, and now even more so as their host seemed to do everything he could to make them feel welcome and at home, even driving his own flesh and blood into unhappy hysterics. Odd that someone so calm and collected could have such a freaky little high-strung kid.
He winced a little at the suggestion that he be shown Shin's room; now he really WAS going to see just how unlike his own room it was going to be, and how much the other would undoubtedly lord over him in the way of keeping it. He managed a shaky smile at his mother as he pushed back his chair and got up. "Don't worry Mom; I'm more than a match for him if he decides to jump me." He made sure to put as much playful banter in his voice as he could, but he could always count on his mother to be all-knowing; he watched her give her own shaky laugh and turn to face Mr. Kaneko. "Jack's such a kidder; he got it from his father. He knows better than to actually fight. Do you know he excels in boxing at school?"
Leaving his mother's voice behind, JK followed Shin to his room, putting enough distance between them that he could do something about it if the other decided to turn and fly at him like a rabid wolverine. He hadn't liked the sound of that Japanese rant. and he'd seen a few horror movies; he could totally see Shin rip some samurai decoration from the wall and engage him in a fight. Well, at least he spoke the truth when he had said he was a match for the other; a certain boxing match had come to mind, and by the time he reached the door to Shin's room, the memory had made him sufficiently more cheerful.
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Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 1:01 am
Hyate murmured something to Jack's mother with a approving tone in accordance to her talking about her son's capabilities in boxing. Shin's ears burned as he could imagine where that conversation was going to lead. His father would state that he hoped that his son would take a few lessons from Jack about that, then sadly and humbly admit that his son did not do well when it came to physical sports. The mere thought of his father talking with such disappointment in his voice about him made Shin feel sick.
He barely noticed how Jack lingered behind him. When he reached his bedroom, he grasped the handle and pushed the door to his room open. Silently he stepped inside, then turned to watch as Jack entered. His arms crossed over his chest, though his features had lost the pent up fury of before. His father had made a decision, and as much as he disliked it, he knew it would be easier on him if he just accepted what was going to be inevitable. Jack was going to be his step brother.
Shin's bedroom was rather spacious when one considered it was a room for a single boy. The hardwood floor had a high polish, yet no scuff marks or dull spots that would be tell tale signs of high traffic. The room had a single large window across one wall, though a drape was half drawn over it so it only cast a light through half the room. The walls of his room was wood, and as a result were devoid of any sort of posters. His father would have been so mad if he had nailed holes into the wooden walls. Two wooden bookshelves claimed large portions of the rooms walls, though between the two of them there was hardly enough books to fill one. All of the books presented were either Japanese history, mathematics, or poetry. The only decoration in the room was a small bonsai plant placed carefully on a plain table next to the window, and a picture of a oriental woman in a traditional wedding kimono standing in front of a flowering cherry tree. A traditional dresser was shoved into a corner, though it stood a few inches away from the wall. Then across the way from the dresser was a large closet in the wall. Shin would not glance at Jack as he waited for the other to enter his room. he didn't want to see the judging expression in the others eyes.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:22 pm
Jack's mother was always one to be gracious to everyone, especially with someone she wanted to get on the right foot with, such as her now-fiance's son. "Oh I'm sure he excels at plenty; he seems like such a bright young man, and he speaks both English and Japanese so fluently. That takes immense concentration, something that Jack sometimes.....brushes past. He can concentrate well enough, but when he loses interest in something, it can be a bit obvious that his mind is on something else. Perhaps Shin can give him some pointers there?"
Luckily JK was already out of earshot as the conversation began to include him. He was too busy keeping a close eye on Shin as he was being led to the room, wary for any signs of his suddenly turning around and attacking. But as he continued through the house, he couldn't help but take his eyes off of the sulky figure in front of him to look around with interest at the various parts of the house he was passing. Everything was so neat and orderly, without a speck of dust on everything. How did they do it? His mother worked so hard to clean their place, and yet there always seemed to be a dusty spot here or a sock in the corner there, even with the chores he had after school. He couldn't resist another smile; his mother would likely find her dream version of cleanliness here; more luck for her than for him.
He peered through the opened door to view the room within. His eyes widened at the size; his room at home wasn't as big, made even smaller by the fact that it had piles of clothes and clutter-filled corners. The floor looked shiny enough to eat off of, the walls were wood and it was obvious by the way things were hung that no nailing of pictures would ever be done in here. It all seemed so tidy and bare in comparison, and it perfectly matched the rest of the house. Were it not for the bed, he would think this place as more of a quiet room or study than the actual room of a teenage boy. His eyes finally landed on the bookshelves as he was striving to say something that wouldn't cause the other to get frantically defensive (a boy's room was a point of pride after all, and he did feel the intruder more than ever), his eyes finally resting on the two bookshelves. "I think someone took half your books."
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 4:37 am
Invasive. Violated. He damn well felt as if his very moral being was being raped the moment Jack entered his bedroom. Truth be told, not even his father set foot in his bedroom. A casual glance was tossed inside to ensure the room was in a neat and orderly fashion, yet other then that the only eyes that gazed upon the room had always been Shin's own. He couldn't even recall if at one time his mother entered the room. His eyes slid to the photo frame while Jack struggled with what to say in the silence. Shin had liked thinking she had at some point in his young life. It made the room have a more sanctified feel to it, that only one other person had crossed this floor beside him. Her purpose being that of a mother tending to her son.
Now that was gone. Broken and sullied by a pair of large clodhoppers that most likely had no slight clue of the delicate fanciful serenity they had just trampled over. "Huh?" Shin's dark eyes pulled from the photo when Jack would speak about the bookshelf. He looked over at it, a slightly sour grimace pulling his thin lips into a unhappy expression. "The rest of the space is supposed to be left uncluttered for when I advance to college." He explained to Jack. Shin stepped forwards and reached a hand up to tap one of the shelves. "Mathematics books and resource guides go on this shelf." His hand moved to another shelf. "World History research material will go here. Social Science will go on this part of the shelf, and next to that is reserved space for whatever physical education class I will be taking. Father has suggested either swimming or aerobics of some kind. Then over here, these shelves are for the medical textbooks, resources, and magazines." Shin paused as he looked at a few more semi empty shelves and frowned a bit more.
"I suppose I will have to reorganize my previous plans though now that you are going to live here. I'm not sure if I'll have enough room...unless I pack up the poetry books maybe. They will not be very useful during my college years...." It was a major inconvenience to tell the truth. Just thinking about having to change his well laid plans of organizations had his cheeks turning a bit red with mild anxiety. Not to mention the fact that Jack would be bringing in foreign possessions into the tranquility of his personal space. Shin turned his gaze back to Jack as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever you bring in here best be cleaned. I won't tolerate any filth in my room."
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 9:38 pm
Well, at least it hadn't triggered any sort of violent reaction. JK was quickly becoming as uncomfortable as he was certain Shin was feeling. I mean he was always up for tormenting the little b*****d when the opportunity presented itself, but there was really something to be said about the sanctity of one's space. Everyone had to have that special spot that nobody could enter without permission, like a fox with its den or a wasp with its nest. This sort of thing was just......it just felt like a hit below the belt, something he at least felt was dishonorable.
As Shin would go and explain his carefully laid plans to arrange his college books, JK couldn't help but wince inwardly. He seemed to have his whole life planned out, and here he was just planning to finish high school! He wondered if maybe Shin's father had something to do with it; wanting to make sure he stayed on a particular path in life instead of letting life run it's course and having him be whatever he's destined to be. He realized just then that he was starting to feel a little sorry for Shin. His world consisted of straight lines and paths with no twists and turns, seemingly no surprises, save of course for this colossal one that had enveloped them both so unwillingly.
But as soon as Shin began to mention moving his own books around to make room for JK's, the latter's sympathy began to shrivel a bit. He would have to be stone deaf to not hear the bitterness in the other's voice as he spoke, and then when he turned around and crossed his arms and said....what he had, the remainder of his sympathy went with a sharp bang. He couldn't help himself; already he was imagining how few of his belongings would ever fit in such a place, and the rest of them would be out in boxes mouldering away in a storage unit; things that he cared about and wouldn't have minded sharing with ANYONE but the one person standing before him. How would Shin have felt had their positions been reversed? JK's smile couldn't have been more poisonous if he had dabbed his mouth with arsenic as he replied. "Well that's too bad; guess I'll have to find a different place to put all of my empty vintage pizza boxes."
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 5:28 am
This was not going to work out. As Shin faced Jack and received that smile of his, Shin could already feel his temper boiling. Though he had to wonder if his fury was solely due to Jack's presence or this upset in his black and white life caused by his father. The mention of pizza boxes had Shin's eyes widening to a degree. "I will not allow such clutter in my room! You'll attract vermin!" He aggressively responded before it occurred to him that what JK had said was most likely not serious. His cheeks flared redder then when he had been looking at his bookshelf.
Not once had it crossed his mind that perhaps JK was in as tough a spot as he was right now. His mother was marrying a man that was the father to a boy he had not gotten along with since grade school...of course, he felt his rivalry had only grown gradually through the years. So perhaps their unusual friendship had not grown uncomfortable until later in the years? Honestly...Shin was certain JK had not become insufferable until like...two years ago? So now here he was, facing a uncertain amount of time in close quarters with a rival. With no breaks. No space. No period of peace! Shin should have been thinking about that, yet he just couldn't get past how unfair it was that he would have to let JK into his personal space. Shin crossed over to the closet and pulled the doors open. Inside were carefully hung outfits, separated by color. A divider was placed between spring and winter cloths, as well as his jackets. Lining the floor of the closet were several pairs of cleaned shoes. Boots for rain and snow, dress shoes, exercise sneakers, and a blank space where the shoes Shin normally wore would have gone if they were not already set out by the front door. Shin lifted a hand and fussed with the spacing between his cloths while he glanced at the large empty space left over in the closet. This had to be why his father had assumed JK could move in here with him. He owned so little so had so much unused space. Shin's brows knit together. Just how much of this space would be overtaken by dirty cloths? Rumpled papers? Shin felt a uncomfortable shiver shake it's way up his spine.
"There is no eating allowed in the bedrooms. No drinks allowed either. There is a laundry chute down the hall next tot he bathroom. I expect you to use it. No dirty cloths are to be left in the bedroom. Understand?" He stated after a moment. He could only imagine the chaos that was JK's room and he wanted to make it perfectly clear he would not let that happen here.
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 11:44 pm
Hardly believing that Shin would even take his quip about the pizza boxes seriously, all JK could do was stand there and stare in amazement. His anger was quickly mounting, enough for him to overlook the sudden obvious change in Shin's face that indicated his realization of the joke. Was the other really THAT uptight that he didn't recognize such an obvious joke for what it was? Furthermore, did he really think so little of JK that he could envision him keeping old pizza boxes stacked in his room like a greasy, festering tower? I mean, he was no neat freak, but he wasn't a complete slob either! God, this was so unfair! Here Shin was with a whole room to himself, tons of space that stayed unused and pristine, and yet he himself probably wouldn't even have a proper bed in here, let alone ample space for his more prized possessions! He didn't ask for this! Why did that little brat act like he was the only one being wronged here??
He felt his anger finally boiling over; all of the pent-up hostility he had felt from the moment he had seen just who his future brother was going to be, the tense dinner, the unintelligible spewing of Japanese and finally how he saw Shin as being the one to act as though the ultimate injustice was being put upon him was finally too much. He didn't even bother to lower his voice for the benefit of the adults downstairs. "Oh I understand alright! You think all this is about your comfort, your space, YOUR feelings! Who the Hell do you think you are!? You think I asked for this? You think I asked to be put under the same roof as you?? If it were up to me, you could have your room and all your space and take it to the depths with you for all I care, but now I have to sit here and get lectured about clothes when they're probably all that WILL be allowed by you in your stupid room, while all the rest of my stuff gets sent to storage to rot and mildew and get eaten by rats! Well don't worry; I won't take up any of your precious space, because I'll never forget from here on that it's all about you." He finished the last bit in a growl, ignoring the marked silence downstairs and turning his head to the side, away from Shin's gaze, willing his eyes to stay dry.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 3:44 am
The sudden outburst from Jack was partly expected. Partly because it seemed that any extended interaction between the two of them ended up resulting in some sort of outburst. It would have meant something was seriously wrong if there was no sort of emotional explosion between them. Still, having Jack raising his voice here, in his place of peace and control...it sent sparks of anger shooting off in his brain and eyes. Shins hands fisted at his sides, his fingers curling so tightly he could feel the trimmed nail edges pressing into the sweaty skin of his palms. "You have no clue! Your a idiot! A moron!" Shin struggled to keep his voice from rising. His father hated shouting. If he yelled he knew the moment Jack and his mother left he'd be punished. Of course he already knew he would be punished for being such a disobedient and shameful son. His outburst at dessert. His cold and sullen mood during dinner. Now Jack yelling in his room...it was all going to be his fault.
Though Jack managed to keep his eyes from showing tears, Shin was hardly as capable as the other. He felt a tight shooting pain in his chest as he heard jack talk about his empty room. "It's not empty! It's not!" His throat was so tight. Speaking the words were almost painful as he lifted his fisted hands and made to push at Jack with them. "You think I want you here! This is all I have left of her! I don't have any choice what you bring. I don't have a say in what happens here anymore! Your taking it all away!" His sight swam. Shimmering between clarity and a weird underwater like haze. He wanted to strike out at Jack, but somehow his arms lacked that strength. Shin glanced around the empty room. With the tears in his eyes he could almost see a altered image of his room. The ghost of his baby crib, the faint image of a rocking chair with a faded embroidered blanket over the back, the phantom of his mothers presence was there. In those carefully cleaned and reverently empty spaces. Shin's heart felt pain with every beating. It was one thing for him to grow up. To have to remove those beloved items from his room. It was one thing to accept that his life had progressed past the age when his mother had been a part of it. However, it was a entirely new matter to have someone elses son fill those spaces he himself had not even had the strength to fill. He couldn't put anything in the place his mother had lain him to sleep. He couldn't cover the space where his mother had sat and rocked him on nights he could not sleep. He could not tell Jack this though. He wouldn't understand. He would just laugh at him!
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 9:16 pm
JK's fists clenched until he felt his nails digging into his palms as Shin would lash out right back. He wanted to just cross the room and slug him when he called him an idiot and moron; to him his unwilling host wasn't acting any more intelligent than he was. Did he expect JK to just shrink down and fold himself up like a suitcase to minimize his 'intrusive presence?' A small voice in his head was telling him how ridiculous his thoughts were, but at the moment he wasn't caring. He wasn't even listening for any telltale sounds from downstairs that both parents were overhearing the whole thing.
As Shin came at JK and started flailing at him, he brought his hands up in front of him, but only partially to defend; the other part of him was winding up to hit home and put the selfish, hyperactive b*****d on the floor where he could drool and ruin his meticulous hardwood finish. Luckily a few words did manage to ping their way through the red haze of anger that was threatening to envelop the last of JK's reasoning. Her....her who? Sensing that it had a foothold in his rash train of thought, the words transformed themselves into a shaky train of thought. There was no her in the house except the her that was missing, just like there was a him missing in his own house. The one little thread of completed thought caused the tension to drain from his fists and for his arms to regain their purely defensive position. He wondered how he could have missed it; wasn't he himself thinking of the things that he would have to store away: pictures in homemade frames of a much smaller version of himself standing beside a tall, muscular man, some in more elaborate frames where JK almost came up to his shoulder, dredlocks and all. There were sports magazines and a pair of sparring gloves that his father had told him had a guy's tooth still lost in the stuffing when he had hit him too hard. There were even countless bunches of old shirts and uniform tops, stained with sweat and sometimes even a little blood, all symbols of hard-earned victory and what his father had been to him. He could imagine what Shin would think if he brought any of those in; probably turn as blue as the shine on his hair. But even that couldn't bring his anger back up to where it had been moments ago, and all he could do was stand there with his arms down, lost in thought and ignoring the blurred vision as what he had striven to keep in check flowed down his face in two painful lines.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 8:45 am
Shin was so wrapped up in his inability to accept that things were changing without his permission, that he could not handle the physical pain it was causing him. The blood rushing through his ears and the wailing voice in his head completely masked the silence coming from below. His erratic thoughts of misery veiled the rather clear fact that Jack was not even responding to his aggression in his usual manner.
Unable to find even the smallest ounce of solace in the situation, Shin's emotions felt like they were breaking past a damn. He gave a small guttural cry of pain and lifted his hands to his face. Shin tried pressing both his palms over his mouth, in an attempt to push in the emotions fighting inside of him to get out. The sadness and desperation at losing the only thing he felt he still had control over was just so powerful though. His sobs came out as choking sounds of someone drowning. With tears finally pouring from his eyes unhindered, Shin thoughtlessly reached out to grab Jack by the front of his shirt so he could hide his face in the other boy's chest. Damn him! Damn him to hell! He hated him so much!
And for once...he wasn't thinking of Jack when he thought that.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 9:14 pm
JK could hardly believe it had come to this; the pair of them standing there so thoroughly miserable. Had he been merely an observer, he would have anticipated that Shin would simply break down while he himself would stand there like a stone wall, taking the brunt of the puny storm. But this.....of all the things for his adversary to throw a tantrum about......it HAD to be something he not only sympathized with, but understood completely. His mother was gone, it didn't matter how or why, but of all the people to fill the void in the house, in his life.....damn, he would feel the exact same way, and in a small way, he almost did. It was Shin's house, but JK was getting a void in his life filled as well.
He gasped in surprise as the smaller boy rushed him, and he only had time to take a step back and prepare for the inevitable punch; of course he would be angry enough to finally lash out, and though JK didn't take kindly to being hit, he was fully prepared to take him down without busting his face; it looked pitiful enough with all those tears. But he was entirely unprepared for the other's reaching out to pull close and hide his tear-streaked face in his shirt. The Hell....? His first impulse was to push the other boy away; this was just too damned embarrassing, for the both of them! But then.....looking down at what he could see of the other's face, he recalled a time when he had needed to cry in someone's shirt. It had been the day after.......when it had finally hit him that his father would not be coming back. His mother had obliged, and back then little JK had only seen his own pain, even though he knew his mother must be hurting just as badly, and yet she held him close and comforted him, hiding her own tears for the sake of her son. Now he was the one who must fulfill that role,even though he knew he was feeling just as bad.
Well, he would just have to do his best, even though he wasn't much for huggies. The best he could manage to do was move his arms to awkwardly and loosely wrap around Shin; only up near the shoulders, and in a way where he wouldn't get his arms wrenched off if the other should recoil.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2012 11:04 pm
If Shin were anything but distressed, he probably would have been appalled at his reaction. Standing with his fingers curled into Jacks shirt and his forehead resting against his chest. Tears blinding his eyes as the other boy rather awkwardly rested his arms loosely over his shoulders for the next few minutes. Shin took in long slow breaths and allowed the reality of the situation calm his emotions. "Jack... what sort of fabric softer do you use...or have you been in your moms body wash?" He finally muttered in an attempt to diffuse the socially awkward moment. His fingers uncurled from jack's shirt, mostly in preparation of a shove he anticipated coming from Jack now. His left hand lifted to brush away his tears with his palm heel so he could avoid looking at the taller boy.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 12:33 am
So caught up was he in the pain that they were sharing, JK started to answer seriously. "I dunno, my Mom does most of the laund-" Suddenly catching on, he blinked the last of the moisture from his eyes and shoved Shin away, nowhere near hard enough to send him reeling, his somewhat watery smile making his anger much less convincing. "You ungrateful little a**-butt! See if I ever let you hug me again!" The absurdity of the statement was just too much then, and JK was unable to stop the short burst of laughter that issued forth before he suddenly turned his head toward the door. "Oh man, now I REALLY hope Mom wasn't listening." He was no goodie clean-mouth, but he DID try to keep it down for decency's sake when his mother was around.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 2:34 am
Violence was always the key to regaining some sense of masculinity. This was the lesson of the day. Shin stumbled back a step from Jack when he shoved him, but there wasn't enough strength in it to make him stumble. Even in the emotional state he was already in. Shin found himself mirroring the smile on jacks face without being aware of it. At least not until he looked up at the other boy. "I can't believe you actually answered that." He replied before rubbing his hands on his pants. Shin's eyes moved to the cracked open door and noted the continued silence. "Well no one has come upstairs. Father is usually strict against raising your voice in the house. It's possible he took her out into the backyard?" As Shin spoke, he crossed over to the blinds to pull them open a little. He rather hoped his father was trying to impress Jacks mother by showing off the flower bed and small garden they had planted outside.
There was still a sense of aggravation in Jack's presence in his room, but Shin was attempting on focusing on the fact that this was in fact going to happen. It would be easier if he just accepted it, and being emotionally tired as he was, this was not too hard at the moment. Shin glanced over to where jack was standing, and attempted to smile again. "I need to find some duct tape, or else we shall be having a lot more fights then usual."
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:50 pm
"Well,,,,,,, I can't believe you hugged me." JK honestly wasn't too put out with the other boy and what had transpired. It did seem a bit unfair that the adults would be the only ones perfectly happy with this arrangement, while the two boys were forced to live in the same space and strive not to breathe on each other. He shrugged as he watched Shin cross the room to peer out the door. I guess he could have taken her out the back for a glass of wine....or saki....or something." He almost pictured the few times when his mother, in her few times when the stress became too much, had come home smelling strongly of spirits, stumbling past her son's room like a zombie before crashing onto the bed and laying there like a dusty old coat. Were it not for those times when he had heard her come home, he might not have guessed it; she knew how to use the remaining nighttime hours to regain her composure. Still....how interesting a picture it would have been if Shin's father had to bear witness to one of those events..... The thought made JK feel insanely bad; if the evening was destined to end on a sour note, it should be he, not his mother, who should be responsible.
"Oh?" He laughed a little as Shin tried to offer him another smile, and was surprised how easy it was to give one in return. "Well if you insist, but it'll pull the hair off your arms and legs, to say nothing of your mouth.....oh I know; how about we find you a nice ball gag? A nice blue one to match the sheen in your hair."
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